These
areas were first landscaped by the Victorians, following construction
of the new house. In front of the house terrace, the built-up ground slopes
steeply to the stream, and is a mass of different rhododendrons. In fact
this is the second generation. The original plantings were devastated
by heavy snow in early 1963, and almost the whole bank was cleared to
start afresh. A lorry load of more varied Exbury hybrids was then planted,
and these have in turn grown to form a high canopy.

To the south
lie the upper lawns, allowing a view across the gardens and away to the
woods beyond. Various Victorian trees have grown and gone from here, including
a vast monkey puzzle that blew down in January 1990. It is too exposed
here for really large trees to survive long. But at the bottom of this
area is the stunning handkerchief tree, that is festooned with its fluttering
white bracts in early June.

Above the drive
is the tennis court shrubbery. War came before the tennis court could be
finished in the late 1930s, and it was later turned into lawn. This area
now has a good range of camellias, rhododendrons and azaleas, and is dominated
over them by two magnificent copper beeches.